In an effort to discourage shoplifting and provide a safer shopping environment this holiday season, the Russellville Police Department is dedicating two to three officers at a time to focus on area stores, Public Information Officer Josh McMillian said Thursday.

“They don’t take calls and they don’t answer the radio,” McMillian said. “Their job is to be seen and have a presence at local stores. They target areas with products with high shoplifting potential. They hit the big box stores — Walmart, K-Mart, Hastings and all of those. They also go to the downtown area and walk through businesses there and other local businesses in the area — the strip malls and all of that stuff. The goal is to be a presence at the retail businesses to prevent any shoplifting that may occur and hopefully reduce it.”

Along with the added police presence, McMillian said educating the public about ways to avoid being a victim is key to crime prevention.

McMillian said a person needs three things to commit a crime: Desire, ability and opportunity.

“What crime prevention focuses on is the opportunity,” he said. “By making people and places harder targets and our law enforcement efforts, we feel we are able to reduce the opportunity for crime to occur. What we find out is through the reduction of opportunities, Russellville is statistically has one of the lowest crime rates for a city of its size in Arkansas.”

McMillian said educating the public with simple safety tips is an important step in “target-hardening.”

“The number one thing we say is use common sense,” McMillian said. “If you’re at a department store, park as close to the store as possible, park in a well-lit space. It’s really nice that people want to lose weight by parking eight miles back in the parking lot, but the fact of the matter is, it’s not safe. The safest thing is to park close to the door. Try not to carry large bundles of packages out of the store because it allows you a slower reaction time if someone does try to attack you or strong-arm rob you in the parking lot. Make sure when you approach your car, if you have a (keyless entry device) — or clicker, as some people call it — that unlocks your door, use it. There’s a reason your interior light comes on. It allows you to check the interior of your car before you get up to it.”

He said should a customer exit a store and feel unsafe upon returning to their vehicle, contact store personnel or police.

“If for some reason when you walk out of the store you don’t feel comfortable because there’s people hanging around your car, don’t hesitate to call a store employee or call the police for us to escort you to your car,” McMillian said. “That’s fine for us to do. We’d rather you err on the side of caution than become a victim.”

In addition to safe shopping, McMillian reminded people to take proper precautions while celebrating at holiday parties.

“Always have a designated driver,” he said. “If you’re going to go to a party and you know you will not have a designated driver, please contact a cab service. We don’t want you to get into a wreck and turn yours or someone else’s holiday time into hospital time. You can be safe and still enjoy yourself.”

For travelers, McMillian recommended stopping mail service and having any package delivery postponed.

“What you’re trying to do is make it look like someone is home when they’re not. If you have a relationship with your neighbor, have them check on your house when you’re gone. They can pick the mail up,” McMillian said. “If you’re having packages delivered, make sure you stop those or have them held somewhere. The worst thing you could have is a sticky note on your door saying ‘Hey we were here. See us later.’ That’s a dead giveaway that you’re not at the house.”

For those hitting the road for the holidays, McMillian suggested packing an emergency kit containing jumper cables, a full-size or donut spare, tire inflating products and flares or reflectors.

“Realize they are not meant for long-term use,” he said of donut spare tires. “It’s meant for about 40 miles of travel. It’s not built to go from here to Bossier City and back.”

He also advised wearing seasonably appropriate clothing.

“If you’re wearing shorts and a T-shirt and you have a flat traveling, it’s going to be a bad day for you out there in the cold,” McMillian said.